Special Needs Program- did you plan the special needs program? I planned what I could. There was really no support in terms of how to best approach the students' particular needs
Volleyball Coach
Staff Committee Chair
Finance Committee
Computer Technology Department Head
Union Representative
PAC Staff Representative
Timetable and Staffing Committee
Technology Committee Chair
Participant in Leadership Development program
Participant Appreciative Inquiry Workshops
How big of a commitment did you find all of these activities? (Time, energy, etc.) I would say that most of these activities did and do require a substantial amount of commitment. It may be just my sense of personal pride in the job I put into these roles as I could probably do less of a job and still "do" the job. I've had to drop the coaching due to my Masters educational pursuit. Sometimes I feel (bad) that my actually teaching of students role is taking a back seat to my other roles. However, another perspective I often take is that it is because of my abilities to stay organized and teach well that I am able to participate in other aspects of the educational system. I feel that if newer teachers were better supported in their beginning years, their willingness/comfortableness to participate in other aspects would also increase. i.e. participation through interest rather than obligation (as a new teacher).
2. Do you think teacher induction has value? Why or why not? I do think that teacher induction has value. The teaching profession is one where experience counts for a lot in terms capability within the classroom. A new teacher comes with very little experience with the school environment. This is where it is crucial that these teachers are put on the right track to success not only in the ways of teaching, but the ways of the institution of schooling itself. This can only be imparted by those who have been there before i.e. mentors. One of the mantras of teacher preparation is to avoid “reinventing the wheel”. This can be said for the profession itself. If we wish our profession to improve we must receive and heed the warnings of those before us and share a wealth of knowledge with those who follow us.
3. Describe your experiences with induction in your first five years of teaching. During my first year of teaching I was part of a few reception ceremonies: The first was when I was first hired on to the Board as a TOC. I was given a tour of the Board office as well as some brief information on various departments. This was also when my picture for my ID badge was taken. Did you find this useful? Of course as a beginning teacher ANYTHING is helpful. You only really get a sense of what you need after you've gotten your feet wet. More often than not however I think new teachers are pushed into the deep end rather than the wading pool.
A few months into working I was also invited to a Teacher Union reception. This was held during an early evening where there was food. We were given a similar information package to the Board package with a Union perspective. Did they offer support or did this seem like more work/stress? I really didn't find it helpful. The information that was given would have been good if I needed any of it, but I don't think I ever did. It was a little stressful because when I did first enter the profession very few of my graduating classes got positions. I didn't really know anyone at the event so this was actually more alienating than welcoming. In my second year of teaching there was a call by the Board for teachers who would be interested in joining a teaching mentoring program. I attended an information session and signed up as a mentee. I indicated what teaching areas I specialized in so I presumably could be paired with a mentor. After this information session I never heard anything from this program again. I do not remember why I did not pursue the matter further at the time. I can only assume that I was either too swamped with the work at hand or that I felt comfortable with the state of my career at the time. The rest of my induction experience during the first five years of my teaching would have to be summed up as informal support. I was lucky enough in my first two years to teach at the same school as my practicum so I continued to have one of my school advisors as an informal mentor (my second school advisor had returned to school, but was still open to contact if need be). Despite the knowledge of this support I found that I rarely required teaching support in the areas of my specialty. The only time in which I did seek out help and advice was with the Special Needs class I was assigned to teach. Having no formal training in this area I have to admit I was quite over my head in this class. Unfortunately the support I did receive from both the school and Board level were quite minimal in trying to cope with the class. How might induction have helped? How would you expect to be helped? I think an induction program would be designed such that these types of load mismatches would be avoided or at minimum setup such that a beginning teacher did not feel that they were alone. When I first started, I my anxiety level rose quite quickly when the class was not going to plan. I feared an administrator or teacher would look in and see that I wasn't able to do my job. It would have been nice to have someone at an equal level to say that everything even the things not going well was perfectly natural. I guess my experience has been trial by fire since I am more than comfortable now when my class goes way off tangent and in fact I will even take it there if I feel it has educational value. I'm not sure if I would have that confidence if I had not experienced the chaos that can ensue with no real lasting ill effects during my first few years! In the end the School administration and I sought a course load change for me part way through the year which in retrospect went a far way in maintaining my sanity. Outside of the classroom, I think that my induction experienced was influenced a great deal by the social culture of the schools in which I was part of. I coached volleyball at the two schools I taught in during the first 5 years. This allowed me to be part of a fairly social group of staff as we shared the common interest of sport. Attending the athletic functions as well as the informal Friday get-togethers at the local pub did provide me with a sense of belonging.
4. Describe the support you received in your first five years of teaching.
Informal
Impromptu conversations on classroom management
Occasional sharing of materials
Invitations to social functions
Answered / materials provided after query initiated by myself
Formal
Teacher evaluation by Administration (2nd year) Was feedback provided? Yes, It was a formal evaluation with written reports that went into my official file at the Board office.
Reception / Introduction Ceremonies
5. What was your best support during your first five years of teaching?
My continued connection with my School Advisors. How did this help you? For me it was more social than practical. My advisors conveyed that my abilities as a teacher already had aspects of an experienced teacher and rarely did they give (nor did I ask) for help with aspects of teaching. (Although I still had a lot to learn). What I appreciated was the connection that I was able to have with my colleagues that made me feel part of the school and educational system and not just 1 person in front of 30 children in a room for a few hours a day.
6a. How do you wish you had been better supported during your first five years of teaching?
In my first five years of teaching I wish that my teaching load (majority at least) could have been paired/mirrored with a more experienced teachers. In this way, I could bounce off ideas and at least have an occasional check as to whether I was on the right track.
I recognize that this may not always be possible because of unique courses being offered in which there is only one teacher (me) that is teaching the course
An extension to this support I would think that if time were provided where this communication between new and experienced teacher could take place would go a long way in facilitating this form of support.
6b. Of the supports you received, which ones would you recommend and why?
I would recommend the continued connection with the school advisor because a mentor/mentee relationship has already been established.
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of induction?
Advantages
quicker connection to profession and institution
reduced burn out
increased retention of new teachers
passing on of best practice and reduction in bad practice
may create competition between schools/boards
networking vehicle
Are these advantages proven? (And do they have to be?) I would have to look at research. Many of these are from personal experience and intuition rather than experimental data. I don't think they necessarily need to be proven to teachers as we usually have an inherent sense of what will work for students (new teachers). Of course the powers that be usually require some sort of proof to back up anything that will take time and money from the Board.
Disadvantages
time consuming
finding willing participants
possible conflicts of interests
violation of code of ethics (all teachers are seen as the same)
may create competition between schools/boards
relationship differences between mentor and mentee
everyone will have varying degrees of induction support need (one form of induction cannot address everyone’s needs)
8. How do you think induction should be implemented?
There should be a formal structure that all new teachers can expect to receive.
All staff within a Board should be required to participate in some shape or form (i.e. no hiding out in the classroom) What does this mean? There are teachers who are brilliant teachers for their students in their classrooms, but rarely will they engage in other aspects of "schooling" beyond their own four walls. I feel this extension outside of the classroom would benefit both the teacher and everyone else involved.
Within this structure there should be flexibility in the way in which a new teacher receives support
variety of support structures
Along side the formal structures, a culture of informal induction/mentorship should also be encouraged within the district/school -
how would this be implemented and supported? In my readings I read that if there is strong leadership from administration that encourages induction policies the formal structures as well as informal structures will see greater success. Grass-roots initiatives can see success, but I feel that long-lasting, wide-spread effects can only take place when there is direction and support from above.
Evaluation of induction efforts should be regularly assessed- by who? By a panel of mixed stakeholders involved in the induction process
There should be natural succession built into the program (mentees become the next mentors)
9a. Have you ever been a mentor (informal or formal)?
No formal mentoring structure in district
Informal mentorship has occurred occasionally with new staff at the school
Support in areas of my expertise (technology, union matters, staff matters)
Student teachers mentorship
9b. What are/were your experiences as a mentor?
As a mentor, I find it quite rewarding to have the opportunity to share my experiences and advice. Additionally I find that through a mentoring I also become a mentee as I can learn from my colleague. I find this it is important to remind new teachers to find their own way. This may be because of the fact that this was my experience as a new teacher, but not by choice. It would have been nice to have someone like me now to offer their advice on how to approach a situation and yet at the same time allow me to choose my own way.
10. From a mentor's perspective, what supports do you think beginning teachers need?
Time to prepare for the courses they’re teaching
Reduced teaching load
Increases prep time
Reduced number of preps
Time to reflect on their practice
Time to discuss their practice with others
11. As a mentor, how could you have been better supported?
Time for mentor/metee interactions to occur how much time would be suitable? This is difficult to say. I think it's not necessarily the amount of time, but scheduled time that is more important.
1. How many years have you been teaching? In what context (include curricular and extra-curricular).
How big of a commitment did you find all of these activities? (Time, energy, etc.)
I would say that most of these activities did and do require a substantial amount of commitment. It may be just my sense of personal pride in the job I put into these roles as I could probably do less of a job and still "do" the job. I've had to drop the coaching due to my Masters educational pursuit. Sometimes I feel (bad) that my actually teaching of students role is taking a back seat to my other roles. However, another perspective I often take is that it is because of my abilities to stay organized and teach well that I am able to participate in other aspects of the educational system. I feel that if newer teachers were better supported in their beginning years, their willingness/comfortableness to participate in other aspects would also increase. i.e. participation through interest rather than obligation (as a new teacher).
2. Do you think teacher induction has value? Why or why not?
I do think that teacher induction has value. The teaching profession is one where experience counts for a lot in terms capability within the classroom. A new teacher comes with very little experience with the school environment. This is where it is crucial that these teachers are put on the right track to success not only in the ways of teaching, but the ways of the institution of schooling itself. This can only be imparted by those who have been there before i.e. mentors. One of the mantras of teacher preparation is to avoid “reinventing the wheel”. This can be said for the profession itself. If we wish our profession to improve we must receive and heed the warnings of those before us and share a wealth of knowledge with those who follow us.
3. Describe your experiences with induction in your first five years of teaching.
During my first year of teaching I was part of a few reception ceremonies:
The first was when I was first hired on to the Board as a TOC. I was given a tour of the Board office as well as some brief information on various departments. This was also when my picture for my ID badge was taken. Did you find this useful? Of course as a beginning teacher ANYTHING is helpful. You only really get a sense of what you need after you've gotten your feet wet. More often than not however I think new teachers are pushed into the deep end rather than the wading pool.
A few months into working I was also invited to a Teacher Union reception. This was held during an early evening where there was food. We were given a similar information package to the Board package with a Union perspective. Did they offer support or did this seem like more work/stress? I really didn't find it helpful. The information that was given would have been good if I needed any of it, but I don't think I ever did. It was a little stressful because when I did first enter the profession very few of my graduating classes got positions. I didn't really know anyone at the event so this was actually more alienating than welcoming.
In my second year of teaching there was a call by the Board for teachers who would be interested in joining a teaching mentoring program. I attended an information session and signed up as a mentee. I indicated what teaching areas I specialized in so I presumably could be paired with a mentor. After this information session I never heard anything from this program again. I do not remember why I did not pursue the matter further at the time. I can only assume that I was either too swamped with the work at hand or that I felt comfortable with the state of my career at the time.
The rest of my induction experience during the first five years of my teaching would have to be summed up as informal support. I was lucky enough in my first two years to teach at the same school as my practicum so I continued to have one of my school advisors as an informal mentor (my second school advisor had returned to school, but was still open to contact if need be). Despite the knowledge of this support I found that I rarely required teaching support in the areas of my specialty. The only time in which I did seek out help and advice was with the Special Needs class I was assigned to teach. Having no formal training in this area I have to admit I was quite over my head in this class. Unfortunately the support I did receive from both the school and Board level were quite minimal in trying to cope with the class. How might induction have helped? How would you expect to be helped? I think an induction program would be designed such that these types of load mismatches would be avoided or at minimum setup such that a beginning teacher did not feel that they were alone. When I first started, I my anxiety level rose quite quickly when the class was not going to plan. I feared an administrator or teacher would look in and see that I wasn't able to do my job. It would have been nice to have someone at an equal level to say that everything even the things not going well was perfectly natural. I guess my experience has been trial by fire since I am more than comfortable now when my class goes way off tangent and in fact I will even take it there if I feel it has educational value. I'm not sure if I would have that confidence if I had not experienced the chaos that can ensue with no real lasting ill effects during my first few years! In the end the School administration and I sought a course load change for me part way through the year which in retrospect went a far way in maintaining my sanity.
Outside of the classroom, I think that my induction experienced was influenced a great deal by the social culture of the schools in which I was part of. I coached volleyball at the two schools I taught in during the first 5 years. This allowed me to be part of a fairly social group of staff as we shared the common interest of sport. Attending the athletic functions as well as the informal Friday get-togethers at the local pub did provide me with a sense of belonging.
4. Describe the support you received in your first five years of teaching.
5. What was your best support during your first five years of teaching?
6a. How do you wish you had been better supported during your first five years of teaching?
6b. Of the supports you received, which ones would you recommend and why?
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of induction?
8. How do you think induction should be implemented?
how would this be implemented and supported? In my readings I read that if there is strong leadership from administration that encourages induction policies the formal structures as well as informal structures will see greater success. Grass-roots initiatives can see success, but I feel that long-lasting, wide-spread effects can only take place when there is direction and support from above.
9a. Have you ever been a mentor (informal or formal)?
9b. What are/were your experiences as a mentor?
10. From a mentor's perspective, what supports do you think beginning teachers need?
11. As a mentor, how could you have been better supported?
12. Additional Comments.